LESSONS LEARNED

THE MUSIC from the Longhorn band, paired with the cheers from the predominantly burnt orange crowd, bounced off the walls of an empty Reliant Stadium. In a stadium that sits 69,500, only 2,797 people took their seats to watch the men and women’s basketball teams battle the UCLA Bruins in the first-ever MD Anderson Proton Therapy Showcase Dec. 8.

Despite the poor turnout, the men’s teams gave ….

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quite the performance – complete with tug-o-war type action over the scoreboard and a wild finish by UCLA. Jordan Adams served as the Bruins’ catalyst, converting on a three-point play to tie the game with 1:15 remaining on the clock. Adams then picked up a blocked shot and found teammate Kyle Anderson on a fast break to take a three-point lead. The six points closed out UCLA’s 13-2 run, which ultimately gave them the game. The Bruins defeated Texas, 65-63.

“Our comeback came down to engery,” Adams said. “Those buckets were big-time buckets. I wanted to get fired up and get the team fired up, and those buckets accomplished that.”

The Longhorns led UCLA by eight points late in the game, but
only made 2 of 9 shots in the final six minutes. Cameron Ridley
recorded Texas’ first double-double of the 2012-13 season, with 14
points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots. Freshman Javan Felix had
13 points and Sheldon McClellan added 12.

“Cam did a great job. We had unbelievable looks at the basket,” head coach Rick Barnes said. “But we didn’t have a particularly good shooting night from the perimeter, but those are shots that we have to take. We did a great job for about 36 minutes. We played with confidence, but stopped listening and stopped executing.”

The women’s team faced a similar fate against UCLA, although
the contest lacked the excitement that the men would later generate.
The No .17 Bruins held the then-No.12 Longhorns to a 24-percent
shooting average, leading them to the win, 62-42.

Sophomore Nneka Enemkpali led Texas with 16 points and 12 rebounds — her sixth-consecutive double-double, and good for a school record. The remaining Longhorn scorers added six points or less each, with the team hitting just 15 of 63 field goals and committing 29 turnovers.

The Bruins went on a 15-point streak late in the first half, leaving
the Longhorns behind for the rest of the game. Texas faced its largest
deficit of the season — 23 points — in the second half of the game.

“Credit to UCLA — they did a great job of out-executing our
team,” women’s head coach Karen Aston said. “You can’t look at a loss
like this by the point difference. There were times that we were still in
it … making strides. I was extremely disappointed by our effort plays
in this game. That has to do with not shooting the ball well. Young kids
get discouraged and stop making effort plays when they start basing
things on offense. We got discouraged today. That’s a sign of youth,
immaturity and lack of leadership.”

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